The Lady Lions (7-7) won three games in a two-day stretch to pull their record to .500 of the season, with all games being played a North Oaks Park. The Lady Lions managed to beat the Alcorn State Lady Braves, 5-2, on Saturday, Feb. 26. On Sunday, the Southeastern Lady Lions faced a double-header, with both games against the University of Arkansas at Pine-Bluff Lady Lions.
Sophomore pitcher Kati Morse (1-3) led the charge against Alcorn State, winning her first game of the year on the mound. The offense was led by sophomore left fielder Kelsey Nichols, who shined with a (4-4) performance, including two runs batted in. Sunday started off with freshman pitcher Jessie Browne (3-2) struggling out of the gate, allowing 10 walks, but with the help of the defense behind her, managed to pitch the fourth no-hitter in school history.
“It feels good. It was tough. I’m glad I had my defense behind me, because with the umpire’s strike zone, and the offense, it made things easier,” said Browne, on her performance in the first game.
As for the SLU offense, they hit the ground running, scoring five runs in the first inning, and batting through the order. The second inning was equally as effective, as SLU would tack on two more runs through three hits. The final run would come in the fifth inning, bringing the score to 8-0 in favor of the SLU, causing the mercy rule to come into effect and ending the first game.
The poor fielding by UAPB didn’t hurt the cause either, with four errors committed in just five innings.
The second game saw senior pitcher/utility player Bailey Zievert (3-0) take the mound. Zievert opened the game allowing one hit and stranding two on base.
In the bottom of the first, the SLU held true to their aggressive offense and came out swinging, scoring two runs on two hits.
Nichols slapped a pitch over the left field fence for her second homerun of the year in the second, and the SLU managed two more in the fourth. UAPB managed to obtain two runs of off Zievert in the fourth, but that was all they could get, putting the final tally at 8-2, in favor of Southeastern.
“It was a good shot. It was nice to win and help my team out, whenever I can,” said Nichols, on her three-run homerun.
Coach Pete Langlois is optimistic for the rest of the season ahead.
“We were trying to get back even. We had a really tough first two weeks, and we kind of balanced out the schedule with teams we would have to really fight to beat, and then teams we were supposed to beat, and then some teams that could go either way and we’re kind of right where we thought we would be,” said Langlois.
Southeastern’s next home game will be a double-header Saturday, March 12, against UT-Arlington at North Oak Park.